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This study examined the differences in the epistemological beliefs of college students across major fields of study. Beliefs in fixed ability, simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge were assessed for 290 students attending a large urban public university. Major fields of study were classified in domains of study according to the hard-soft and pure-applied dimensions of Biglan's well-known classification of academic fields. Additional analyses examined the effects of gender, age, year in college, and GPA. Results indicated that students majoring in pure fields were less likely than those in applied fields to hold naive beliefs in simple knowledge, quick learning, and certain knowledge, and students majoring in soft or pure fields were less likely than others to hold naive beliefs in certain knowledge. Gender, age, and GPA were also related to students' beliefs. The results of this study suggest that students' beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning are related to the disciplinary contexts in which students select and experience their specialized coursework in college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the relationship of pulmonary fibrosis and lung cancer in the United States. Multiple cause of death mortality data; Variation in the degrees of severity of disease.

Objective. To describe trends and highlight epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of childhood tuberculosis (TB) in the United States. Methods. All verified TB cases reported to the national TB surveillance system from 1993 to 2001 were included. A child was defined as a person younger than 15 years. Results. A total of 11 480 childhood TB cases were reported. Case rates (TB cases/100 000 population) in all children declined from 2.9 (n = 1663) in 1993 to 1.5 (n = 931) in 2001. Among children, those who were younger than 5 years had the highest rate. California, Texas, and New York accounted for 48% of all childhood TB cases. In 2001, TB case rates were higher for foreign-born (12.2) than US-born children (1.1). Hispanic and non-Hispanic black children accounted for nearly three quarters of all cases. Twenty-four percent of children with TB were foreign-born children, with the largest number originating from Mexico (39.8%), the Philippines (8.6%), and Vietnam (5.7%). Most children had evidence of pulmonary TB disease (78.9%). Among culture-positive cases without previous TB, drug resistance to at least isoniazid was 7.3% and to isoniazid and rifampin was 1.6%. In 1999, 82.9% of children received directly observed therapy for at least part of their treatment and 94.8% completed treatment. Conclusions. Although the overall TB case number among children is declining in the United States, certain groups of children (eg, younger children, racial and ethnic minorities, foreign-born) are at higher risk for TB. As the United States moves toward the elimination of TB, future efforts should endeavor to prevent all cases of childhood TB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National guidelines recommend targeted tuberculin testing and treatment of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) among high-risk groups but discourage testing low-risk persons. Methods: We determined the LTBI prevalence (tuberculin skin test [TST] reaction ≥10 mm) among adults with and without TB exposure risk factors screened in Tennessee from 1/2/2002 to 4/19/2005. We then quantified LTBI risk among groups at high-risk for TB using multivariate analysis. Results: Of 53,061 adults tested, the LTBI prevalence was 34% among foreign-born persons, compared with 3.2% among nonforeign-born persons (prevalence odds ratio [POR] 15.7, 95% confidence interval [CI] 14.5-16.8). Among nonforeign-born adults, Asian race (POR 11.7, 95% CI 5.9-23.4), and Hispanic ethnicity (POR 11.7, 95% CI 9.0-15.2) were most strongly associated with LTBI. Only 2.4% of low-risk persons had LTBI. Conclusions: Risk-based screening can effectively distinguish persons who will benefit from LTBI testing and treatment. Targeted testing programs should prioritize foreign-born persons. Testing of low-risk persons is unnecessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: On May 24–25, 2005 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and the University of Michigan sponsored a technical workshop on the topic of connecting social and environmental factors to measure and track environmental health disparities. The workshop was designed to develop a transdisciplinary scientific foundation for exploring the conceptual issues, data needs, and policy applications associated with social and environmental factors used to measure and track racial, ethnic, and class disparities in environmental health. Papers, presentations, and discussions focused on the use of multilevel analysis to study environmental health disparities, the development of an organizing framework for evaluating health disparities, the development of indicators, and the generation of community-based participatory approaches for indicator development and use. Group exercises were conducted to identify preliminary lists of priority health outcomes and potential indicators and to discuss policy implications and next steps. Three critical issues that stem from the workshop were: (a) stronger funding support is needed for community-based participatory research in environmental health disparities, (b) race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position need to be included in environmental health surveillance and research, and (c) models to elucidate the interrelations between social, physical, and built environments should continue to be developed and empirically tested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]